Tag Archives: World Baseball Classic

WBC Semi-Final Preview: Dominican Republic vs. Kingdom of the Netherlands

Posted on by
1

It’s a showdown tonight, a grudge match four years in the making. In one corner, the mighty Dominican, now by far the biggest fish in the increasingly small WBC pond. In the other corner, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the upstart amalgamation of the Netherlands, Curacao and Aruba. Four years ago, the Dutch upset the Dominican twice, and now the Dominican has a chance for revenge. They probably will get it, but as we saw in Puerto Rico-Japan (and Puerto Rico-USA, and Netherlands-Cuba, and… you get the idea), there are no guarantees in baseball.

Go below the jump for the tale of the tape:

Continue reading →

Picture of the day: WBC Trophy

Posted on by
Reply

The first two World Baseball Classic trophies went to Japan, where will this one go?

This picture was taken by Geoff Livingston, and is under a creative commons license.

WBC Semi-Final Preview: Japan vs. Puerto Rico

Posted on by
11

The game between Japan and Puerto Rico, on paper, should belong to the Japanese team, a seasoned squad that relatively breezed into the San Francisco round and which will be playing with far more rest than Puerto Rico, which will be playing it’s third game in as many days. But, as has been shown time and time again, in baseball weird and unexpected things can happen. Go below the jump for a more in-depth preview.

Continue reading →

Games aren’t played on paper

Posted on by
1

With Team USA’s 4-3 loss to Puerto Rico and elimination from the World Baseball Classic, there are certain to be many theories as to why, once again, the Americans failed. Some are legitimate (lack of conditioning compared to teams from Asia and Latin America, the various dropouts from the event), some aren’t (the claim that the American players “didn’t care” about the games or their outcomes is easily disproved by Vinnie Pestano‘s post-game Tweet), and some are probably somewhere in between. But, ultimately, the fact that Team USA fell can be brought down to this:

It’s baseball, and in baseball, games aren’t played on paper. And that means weird things can happen, and even small mistakes can doom giants, especially in settings such as tournaments where the margin of error is small.

Consider: Who could have expected that the Team USA lineup would be so anemic (sans David Wright, now resting from his wounds in a S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-Carrier until he is needed in 2017, and Joe Mauer, who reminded the world about how beautiful a swing he has) for much of the tournament? On paper, you wouldn’t have expected it, but the games aren’t played on paper.

Or consider Nelson Figueroa, who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the Majors since 2011. Who could have expected him to have the night of his life? Or that the umpiring would have had such a… unusual strike zone? Nobody. There are countless other variables that determine this tournament and any given game. And tonight, those variables helped put Puerto Rico on top.

So, before you go ripping into Team USA, or calling for the WBC to be cancelled (it won’t be), just remember: this is baseball. The best team doesn’t always win. Some of the greatest teams in baseball history* haven’t won. It’s what makes the sport great. It’s why we watch. And sometimes, it can be very cruel and fickle game.

So enjoy the rest of the World Baseball Classic, people, because, like all baseball, we have no idea what’s going to happen.

*The 1906 Cubs, the 1954 Indians, the 1969 Orioles, the 2001 Mariners…

Jurickson Profar will be playing for Team Netherlands after all- here’s why that matters

Posted on by
Reply

Jurickson Profar will be playing for Team Netherlands after all, taking over for the injured Yurendell de Caster.

So why does that matter?

Well, for one Profar (a switch-hitting middle infielder) is the top prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com and other sources such as Baseball America. He’s only 20, but has already played a short stint in the majors last season, even having a home run in his first AB. But it’s what he’s done in the minors that is especially impressive… take a look:

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2010 17 Spokane NORW A- TEX 63 288 252 42 63 19 0 4 23 8 3 28 46 .250 .323 .373 .696 94 8 0 6 2 0
2011 18 Hickory SALL A TEX 115 516 430 86 123 37 8 12 65 23 9 65 63 .286 .390 .493 .883 212 7 11 6 4 2
2012 19 Frisco TL AA TEX 126 562 480 76 135 26 7 14 62 16 4 66 79 .281 .368 .452 .820 217 11 5 2 9 5
3 Seasons 304 1366 1162 204 321 82 15 30 150 47 16 159 188 .276 .367 .450 .817 523 26 16 14 15 7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/13/2013.

And, what’s more, it provides another MLB-level (or close to it) bat into the Dutch lineup, something that will come in handy against whoever they play in the semi-finals. Okay, that isn’t really that much of analysis, but it is true. And, what’s more, it could provide a psychological boost for the Dutch: they are now heading into the semi-finals round and now they are going to be joined by one of the best future stars of baseball.

Should be interesting to see how it all turns out.

The WBC-is-fine Update

Posted on by
Reply

A few days ago, I wrote about why the World Baseball Classic probably isn’t going anywhere, despite the doom-sayers. So, here are some things that further back up my that the World Baseball Classic is going to continue:

The ratings for MLB Network have been very good

The USA-Canada game was the most watched non-postseason game ever shown on MLB Network, and last weekend was the most watched weekend in MLB Network’s history. While the TV audience is down from previous WBCs that had games on ESPN, this was almost certainly expected when they moved the games to MLB Network, which, of course, isn’t on as many TVs as ESPN.

Attendance broke the previous record for the first round

463,017 people attended WBC games in round one, almost 10 thousand more than the previous record in 2009.

The ratings elsewhere in the world have continued to be high

As I and others elsewhere have pointed out, this event isn’t really about the United States, it’s about the rest of the world and how MLB can spread baseball in it, leading to more players and, even more importantly, more profit. And, guess what? The WBC still is getting record ratings in other parts of the world.

Add that to the big social media buzz (“#WBC” and similar things are trending during nearly every game, it seems), and the picture is becoming further clear: The WBC is here to stay.

WBC Round 2 Preview: Pool 2 (Miami)

Posted on by
5

Japan and the Netherlands have already qualified for the final four of the WBC, but who will join them? That will be decided in Miami, where three of baseball’s traditional powers are joined by the surprising Italian team to determine who will escape to San Francisco. Go below the jump for my preview of the double elimination round:

Continue reading →

Video of the undetermined amount of time: The crazy Cuba-Netherlands game

Posted on by
1

In case you missed that awesome game between Cuba and the Netherlands this morning, MLB has this little recap for you:

 

It was a good game.

Link of the day: Dutch baseball words

Posted on by
Reply

After a shocking 7-6 upset over Cuba, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, AKA “Honkbal”, is headed to San Francisco for the WBC semi-finals, with only a relatively meaningless game for seeding remaining against Japan before they head to America, and, no doubt, total world domination.

So, with that in mind, it may be a good idea to check out this link, which serves as a English-to-Dutch dictionary for baseball/honkbal terms.

Picture of the day: Fernando-Mania never died

Posted on by
Reply

Mexico may not have advanced in the WBC, but they certainly were popular with the fans during their time there. Just look at the crowd trying to get pitching coach and Mexican baseball legend Fernando Valenzuela to sign for them before a exhibition game against the Dodgers:

This picture, taken by “rwarrin”, is under a creative commons license.